Aftermath
by Orcpaladinarthur
Summary: My own take on the ending of Volume 7, with a little bit of rewriting for V7E12.
1. Chapter 1

Qrow Branwen stared at the wall of his cell, unblinking, unbelieving. Just last night everything seemed to be turning around. Atlas and Mantle were united, Jimmy finally seemed to be taking his head out of his ass, and Clover… Oh Gods, he couldn't think about Clover right now. The sight of him, lifeless in the snow, his blood coating Harbinger and his horseshoe laying abandoned in a pool of blood. The thoughts threatened to send him over the edge. He hadn't put up a fight when the Atlesian soldiers, seeing the dead Ace-Op in the snow and a wanted fugitive kneeling over him with a blood-stained blade, made an admittedly reasonable assumption. They had immediately detained him with almost outrageous excessive force, with one especially "patriotic" soldier knocking the grizzled huntsman out with a swift kick to the head.

He had awoken in a dark cell, completely black & silent save for a blue force field that hummed beyond the bars of his cage. Judging by his bruises and the unsettling sensation of incompleteness, his aura was being dampened by something, either the field itself or the bolo-handcuffs that e now realized adorned his wrists and ankles. He had begun to inspect them, hoping beyond hope to find a weakness, ignoring the little voice in his head bitterly pointing out his bad luck even without an active aura.

His efforts were cutoff by the sound of a door sliding open. Qrow snapped his head toward it, and watched as James Ironwood, the man that Qrow had so hoped would come through in the end, entered. He looked tired, as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. His beard seemed more haggard, his hair was a mess, the bags under his eyes looked like bruises & his arm was bandaged and restrained across his chest. The general caught Qrow's gaze, and his gaze immediately hardened.

"Qrow", Ironwood spat, uttering the name almost like it was a curse.

"Jimmy, why?",Qrow muttered, being the only words he could trust himself with.

"I could ask you the same thing Brawnwen," Ironwood continued, his eyes boring into Qrow. "Why you sided with a terrorist, why you would let a madman like Tyrian Callows escape, why you murdered an ATLESIAN OPERATIVE! ONE OF MY BEST QROW, AND YOU KILLED HIM!" the general thundered, his voice becoming louder with each passing syllable, end as an enraged roaring.

"Jimmy I didn't-"

"Liar," Ironwood growled. "You killed him, I saw Harbinger, I saw the blood". Qrow was silent, not trusting himself to do more than try not to fall into an ever-growing emotional abyss.

"Really James", a female voice called out, "you'd think one of your closest allies killed your second, instead of ya'know, the crazed serial kill-"

"Shut up!" barked another voice, and Robyn Hill walked into Qrow's line of sight, escorted by Harriet Bree, the new leader of Ace-Ops. They both looked worse for wear, with Robyn sporting bolo-cuffs and what seemed to be a full body bruise, and Bree having two black eyes and a swelling nose. They were quickly followed by Winter Schnee and two of the other Ace-ops, Vine & Elm. The Specialist roughly shoved Robyn into the cell across from his, the Huntress nearly tripping before regaining balance as the cell was locked behind her.

"So", Robyn began, "What now James. Why are you here in the cells instead of trying to rally your new kingdom in light of your coup?".

"Yes James," drawled a new voice, smug sounding despite it coming from a cell behind Qrow's "What now?".

"If you must know, Watts", the General replied, "I have need of your expertise".

"I'm honored," drawled Arthur Watts, and moments later his prison was deactivated, and he stepped out. His face was heavily bruised, but still holding an infuriating smirk, and his clothing was torn and stained with soot and blood. Rubbing his wrists he looked towards the other occupants of the room. "Branwen", he waved, "Well James, what happened to your little group. I see the Schnee, and three of your little attack dogs, but where is the Faunus, or your android? Did they suffer the same fate as your beloved Commander Clov-".

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH OR I WILL FEED YOU TO THE GRIMM" Roared Ironwood, causing Watts to stumble back. "I WILL NOT HAVE YOU TEST ME!". The General breathed deeply, refocusing his thoughts. "Both ex-specialist Amin and Project P.E.N.N.Y. have been labeled as traitors to Atlas for their collusion with Ruby Rose and her allies", with this Harriet narrowed her eyes shot a pointed and venomous glare towards Qrow, but was lost in the Huntsman's relief that his nieces were safe.

"O-of course, General," Watts gulped, his bravado gone. "What do you need me for?".

Ironwood turned toward the wall of the room, and with a tap on his scroll, the wall unfolded, revealing Clover Ebi's corpse in a modified aura transfer system. Qrow heard Robyn let out a string of blistering curses, but it was lost to static as whatever relief Qrow had fell apart around his ears.

"Fix him," Ironwood stated.

"What!?" Watts sputtered, "But..he's dead!"

"Don't fool me Watts, we both know you and Pietro were exploring the concepts of Aura Ghosts before our...falling out. And with Pietro on the lamb with team RWBY, your the only man I know with the expertise," The General stated, seeing Watts' expression he continued, "His aura has been preserved within the chamber, and you will do everything to bring him back. But if you try and cross me, I will make sure **you **will be the test subject of any further 'experiments'".

"It would seem as if I have no other choice so… of course General, I'll see to it," With that he turned towards the pod, preparing to resurrect the dead.

"Okay you've gone off the rails Ironwood," Robyn shouted, "I always knew you were allowing unethical experiments, but THIS!? THIS IS INSANE"

"James" Qrow said softly, his voice betraying the frailty of his being, his eyes welling with tears. "... What are you doing?"

"Fixing your mistake," Ironwood simply stated, before he and subordinates took their leave. As the door began to close, he seemed to lament Qrow's capture. "If only you had obeyed".

The room was left in silence, except for the humming forcefield. Qrow's fragile composure shattered completely, and he began to sob, the sound quiet but heart wrenching. Robyn hung her head in defeat, and Watts shot a look of seeming pity towards the broken Huntsman.

"Well," Robyn began, "At least Wags and Penny are thinking for themselves," She paused, her own composure beginning to crack, "They'll be okay, they'll be okay".


	2. Chapter 2

There were...okay, Ruby thought. They were reunited, thanks to Jaune they were relatively uninjured, and the heat had been turned back on, if only as a comforting gesture to a city left to die.

They were currently hidden in a warehouse in Mantle's industrial sector, unwilling to return to Pietro's clinic in case it was being monitored. Team JNR and Oscar were currently huddled around Fria, oddly attached to the Winter Maiden due to a cause currently only known to them. Team RWBY were scattered throughout the warehouse, with Yang helping Maria with the task safely starting a fire, with Blake at her customary place besides the blonde brawler. Weiss and Ruby were with Pietro, the older man fussing over Penny, analyzing her for any damage sustained in the mad free for all that had resulted in JNOR & the android escaping with Fria, but Cinder and Neo gaining the Relic of knowledge. Weiss had her attention split between Ruby, Penny and their oddest new addition: Marrow Amin.

The Faunus man, already unsure of his orders in the face of his home's abandonment by General Ironwood, had been swayed by Weiss's words over the course of their fight and in the closing moments had used his semblance on Harriet Bree, allowing Ruby to knock the other speedster unconscious with a headbutt of all things. Afterwards, he had joined with team RWBY and reunited with JNOR, but had lost his weapon, Fetch in their ensuing escape to Mantle. Currently, he and Penny sported identical thousand yard stares, questioning the choices that led them to this moment

Ruby squeezed Penny's hand and took a shuddering breath, willing herself to focus on the current situation, on Penny, on Weiss, on anyone except for Qrow, who after her hurried warning about Salem & Ironwood she had lost contact with.

"Well," Maria began, her voice cutting through the silence, "That was certainly interesting,"

"More like horrifying," Yang commented, putting the finishing touches on the fire. "We're now wanted fugitives, Ironwood has gone off the rails, and **if **Salem is telling the truth, Mantle is doomed,"

"Mantle is doomed either way," Marrow cut in, his voice seemingly hollow of emotion, "General Ironwood just left Mantle to die, even if this Salem woman isn't coming, the Grimm still are, and they'll just attract more and more until-" His voice cut off, and he buried his face into his hands, simply unbelieving of their current situation.

"Ruby," Weiss turned to her partner, "What do we do?". Ruby felt the eyes of the room shift to her, and she found herself asking that same question, but before she could reply, she was beaten to the punch.

"If I may interject," said a new voice, and the room's gaze shifted to Fria, rising from her seat supported by Nora and a cane made out of pure ice. "Our first priority should be the Grimm overrunning the city, correct?"

"Yeah," Ruby responded, puzzled by the old Maiden's question. "They are flooding through a hole in Mantle's defensive wall, why?"

"A hole can be plugged, and I have the ability to plug it," Fria stated and she let the powers of the Winter Maiden manifest in a small blizzard of hail hovering above her hand.

"And then we can focus on exterminating the Grimm inside," Ruby finished, a plan forming in her mind, "Then we can focus on finding the Relic,".

"How though?" Jaune asked, "Cinder has it and we lost her back at the academy,"

"Yes," Ruby admitted, "But the Relic attracts Grimm, and if we find where the Grimm are concentrating-,"

"Then we'll find the Relic and Cinder with it!" Oscar finished, beaming at the prospect.

"Impressive young man, you are certainly a new Oz" Fria exclaimed, drawing looks from Team JNOR.

"How do you know i'm Oz, no one told you?" Oscar exclaimed

"My semblance allows me to see people as they, 'really are'," she exchanged a pointed look with Nora, mirrored behind them by Jaune and Ren. "Plus you're holding his cane," she explained, chuckling at the teen's expression.

Any further discussion was halted by the sound of the warehouse door groaning open. The group readied their weapons only to be greeted by the sight of the Happy Huntresses stumbling in, tired and bereft of their leader. The sight of the Huntresses without Robyn stripped Ruby of any ideas that Qrow was with them, but her train of thought was cut off by the trio noticing them.

"Why are you here?" Joanna Greenleaf demanded, tensing at the sight of Penny.

"We're using this place for cover," Maria responded, "Why are **you **here?"

"This is our hideout!" May Marigold shouted incredulously, her next words being cut off by Fiona Thyme

"What is **he** doing here?" she hissed in Marrow's direction, her eyes, which Ruby noticed were tear-streaked, narrowed at the other Faunus.

"He sided with us," Weiss stated, "He helped us escape Atlas,".

"Of course," Fiona said, her tone bitter, "One of Ironwood's finest would help you, along with his android," she motioned towards Penny, with her tone becoming increasingly sarcastic, "Who i'm sure doesn't have any tracking devices on her, why that would be impos-"

"FIONA!" Joanna snapped before placing her hand on the smaller woman's shoulder, the sheep faunus' ears drooping. "Sorry about her, we haven't been able to contact Robyn, she was with Clover and your uncle when the call went out, we have to assume the worst,". The tall Huntress turned towards Penny, "Are you sure that she doesn't have a tracker on her, or if Ironwood put one on her?"

"If she does i'll disable it," Pietro responded. It was telling, the way he didn't refute the the tall huntress' accusations about Ironwood.

"What about you Wags?" May piped in, acknowledging the Ace-Op, "Got any trackers on you?" She paused, realizing how that might sound, "Wait! I didn't mean it like that!" She hurriedly explained, drawing a thin smile from the Faunus man.

"No," He explained, "The only thing that might've had a tracker was my weapon… but I lost that escaping from that terrifying umbrella girl,".

"Well then, we're going to have to fix that," The blue haired huntress exclaimed, shooting the faunus a warm smile.

"Anyways," Ruby began, "We have a plan to save the city,". She quickly explained the basics of the plan, bringing the trio of huntresses in on the specifics of their war on Salem.

"You certainly seem to have this on lockdown kid," Joanna chuckled, "Anything we can do?".

"Yes, we're still fugitives and need someone to run interference with the military,"

"Of course kid, messing with the cops is practically our specialty," May laughed.

With that the plan was set in motion, with Fria being escorted to the wall by Nora, who refused to leave the old woman's side, Ren, who refused to leave Nora's side, Jaune & Oscar. Penny elected to stay with Pietro and Maria in order to keep them safe and allow Pietro to examine her. RWBY was headed to wipe out the Grimm, hoping locate Cinder in the chaos, with Marrow & the Happy Huntresses (The team name of "MJTA" rejected by Joanna on the grounds it implied May was the leader) going ahead to distract Atlesian forces, using their semblances and Marrow's military knowledge to sow chaos at every opportunity. As the teams dispersed throughout the city, Ruby repeated a mantra in her head, hoping beyond hope that it would come to pass by the force of belief alone.

"We'll be okay, we'll all be okay,".


End file.
